Knit nether garment with inelastic crotch insert



D. F. SHEEHY Sept. 14, 1937.

KNIT NETHER GARMENT WITH INELASTIC CROTCH INSERT Filed July 18, 1955Patented Sept. 14, I937 "Daniel F; 'Sheehy, Reading, Pa., assignor toVanityFair Silk Mills, Reading, Pa., a corpora 'tion of PennsylvaniaApplication July 18, 1935, Serial No. 32,128

This invention relates to womens nether garments of the form-fitting.drawers type. It has fOIiltS general object to prV i,de a garment of theclassindicated made from ,fiimsy knit fabric 5. elastic-bothlongitudinally and circumferentially,

butwith a.modulus.of elasticity so freely yieldingas to setiit apartfrom, the type of garment generally known as a girdle, designed to,compress or conform the body toa predetermined shape and having acoeefficient of elasticity sufficiently powerful to enable it to fulfillits purpose. The present garment has no function of compressing orconforming, being of just sufficient elastic strength to contact thebody in a wrinkle free manner. 7

There is nothing new in the broad concept of knit drawers fittingtheform with light elastic pressure, but such garments have not beeneminently successful due to the fact that the loosenessiof the knittingfailed to give the necessary support so that the weight of the garmentcaused it'to-sag and hang out of shape. Furthermore, in common with allknit garments they were more elastic in 'one'direction than another andpar ticularly after laundering became stretched hopelessly out of shape.Another drawback with the conventional knit drawers is that the rubbingtogether of the legs of the garment in the act of walking causedtwisting in the leg portions rendering them uncomfortable and unsightly.The present invention has for its object to improve knit drawers typegarments of light elastic quality as described by providing a support orrelatively inelastic anchoring area which keepsthe garment in shape,prevents the legs froi n'sag'g'ing oi twisting, nullifies the effectsformerly produced by the act of walking, and prevents relative movementbetween the garment and the skin.

Specifically, the object of the invention is to provide an elastic knitdrawers of flimsy noncompressing texture having a relatively nonelasticinsert in the form of a crotch piece of double thickness extending downthe insides of the legs to the peripheral margins thereof.

Another specific object of the invention made possible by thecombination of the supporting area with the flimsy knit elastic bodymaterial is the provision of a nether garment of knit elastic freelyyielding fabric having the leg portions terminating in cuffs of stillslighter coefficient of elasticity and supporting means for retainingthe legs including the cuffs in shape and in untwisted position upon thelegs consisting of a crotch piece of double thickness constituting theinsides of the legs and crossing the line of demar cation between thecuff portions and the inte-. grally knit body portions.

Another-object of the invention is to provide a nether garment asdescribed, with an elastic source both at the waist lines and at thebottom of the legs.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing throughout the several figures of which the samecharacters of reference have been employed to designate identical parts:

Figure 1 isa perspective view of a nether garment embracing theprinciples of the present invention distended as worn;

Figure 2 is afront elevation of the garment; Figure 3 is a plan viewfrom beneath the legs being spread apart; and rFigure 4 is a sectiontaken along the line i4 of Figure 3.

Referring now in detail to the several figures the numeral 1 representsthe body'of the garment comprising preferably a tubular knit fabrichaving longitudinally extending wales 2 and being stretchable bothlongitudinally and circumferentially. As in all garments knit withwales,'the elasticity is greater in a direction perpendicular to thewales than it is in the direction of the wales. The body portion. iscleft both at the front and rear as indicated at 3 to define legportions 4 and '5. A crotch insert Bis set into the clefts beingunited'to the edges of thecleft preferably by an overlook chain stitchand forming the inside parts 1 and 8 of the leg portions as, shown inFigures .2 and .3. The insert is of substantially inelastic material,for example, glove silk and is of double thickness, the two thicknessesbeing entirely free except where stitched to the adjacent fabric. It isalso much wider from front to back in the line of the crotch than whereit terminates at the leg openings, so that it extends well up on thebody both at the front and back to the point where the curvature whichrepresents the rotundity of the lower part of the abdomen and buttocksextends.

It will be noted that the lines of stitching 9 and 10 are parallel tothe direction of the wales, that is to say, the direction in which thebody fabric is less stretchable. Consequently, the difference instretchability between the insert 6 and the body fabric I in the seam isof minimum value and there is less chance of the elastic fabric beingtorn away from the insert by excessive stress than would otherwise bethe case.

The top of the garment is provided with a waist band II preferablyincorporating circumferential rubber strands, but in any event morepronouncedly elastic than the body fabric, for firmly holding thegarment in position. The ends of the leg portions are provided withcircumscribing elastic bands l2 and [3 which also may incorporaterubber, forholding the leg portions in place and for determining anormal form-fitting relation of the entire garment to the body of thewearer. It is to be understood throughout the specification that thematerial of this garment is of flimsy nature, practically incapable ofsupporting itself in any position unaided, and that it does not compressor conform the body.

It will be observed in Figure 2 that the line (1-1) between the arrowheads from the waist line to crotch is shorter than the similar line c-dwhich extends from the waist line down to the bottom of the leg portionso that the aggregate elongatability of the fabric in the line ab isless than the aggregate elongatability along the line c--d. The resultis that the leg portions of the garment ordinarily would sag and get outof shape. The relatively inelastic insert 6 compensates this tendencyfor the middle portion of this insert is secured at the points I4 andI5, see Figure 3, to the body fabric at the lower ends of the lines aband said insert may therefore be considered anchored to the garment atthis point. The insert extends down the insides of the legs on oppositesides being stitched to the adjacent body fabric and thereby anchors thebody fabric-to it preventing its sagging down in the longitudinaldirection of the legs. The supporting function of the inelastic insertis so well performed that it permits the lower ends of the leg portionsto be integrally knit with the body portion as cuffs l6 and I! oflighter wales and therefore more stretchable even than the body portion.The inside leg portions of the insert 6 are stitched longitudinally tothe cuffs l6 and I1, keep these in place, and prevent them saggingdownward. Furthermore, the individual courses which extendcircumferentially about the leg in the ouifs I6 and I1 terminate in theinelastic insert 6 and are thus held substantially parallel to oneanother. and prevent it from sagging out of shape. The fact that thecrotch insert extends higher up both at the front and back and that itis inelastic, causes it to provide a supporting function to the knitmaterial in those regions which would be unduly bulged or sagged by therotund mass of the lower part of the abdomen and buttocks.

The leg portions of the insert 6 also act, through their relativestiffness, to allocate the knit material of the leg portions, keepingthe wales in straight lines and preventing the material twist ing aboutthe legs in the act of walking. .Since the insert 6 is of doublethickness, the outer adjacent layers of said insert may rub together andbe displaced through said rubbing without affecting the inner layerwhich lies against the skin. The outer layer will therefore not besusceptible of any translatory movement, but merely to a wrinkling andstraightening relative to the inner This double thick crotch portiontherefore makes for comfort in preventing the material of the garmentfrom rubbing against the legs and also prevents the oscillatorymovements of walking from having a rotating effect upon the leg portionsof the garment. The elastic belt and leg bands have l layer which isfixed in its relation to the legs. r

the sole purpose of keeping the garment smooth and in a sense stretch itlongitudinally to the extent or for the purpose of causing it to asserta conforming'pressure upon the body.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be apreferred and practical form of the invention, it will be understood tothose skilled in the art that the limitationsherein disclosed are by wayof example and not who construed as restricting the scope of theinvention as claimed.

What I claim is:

Nether garment comprising a supporting framework consisting of aconstrictively elastic selfsupporting waist band, constrictively elasticselfsupporting leg cuffs and a substantially inelastic crotch insert inthe form of .an inverted dihedral angle forming the inner sides of thelegs, having its apical edge at the crotch and its base portionsinterposed in the leg cufis, kept stretched thereby and prevented fromtwisting around the legs by the tension of said cuffs, and a flimsyknit, inherently non-self-supporting, smooth fitting tubular bodyportion, weakly elastic in both circumferential and longitudinaldirections, bifurcated at one end to form leg portions, integrally

